Join us for an exclusive livestream of our talk with artists Elsa James, Harold Offeh and art critic Louisa Buck.

Don’t miss this fascinating discussion about the role of art can play in challenging stereotypes, highlighting and addressing social injustice, and creating a platform for forgotten narratives and hidden histories.

In this lively debate, the artists will delve into their own personal motivations, inspiration and the processes behind their work, plus their journeys to become professional artists.

As with all the artists in this series, Louisa will also be asking Elsa and Harold what they each feel is most important for us to focus on as one society, post-covid. How can we build resilience and reconnect as a society?

Our talks and events help raise vital funds for Firstsite

This talk is a fundraising event for Firstsite – profits from this event will help us continue to support and provide a platform for local artists and creatives. Your ticket can help art continue to thrive in East Anglia.

Please note: This is an online livestream. If you would like to attend in person, please book onto our separate in-person event here

About our speakers

Elsa James

Elsa James is a British African-Caribbean conceptual artist and activist living in Essex since 1999. She works across live performance, film (in which she also performs), text in digital formats and silkscreen prints on paper, spoken word poetry, and, more recently, large-scale neon text and sound. In 2021, she was a finalist for the Freelands Award with Focal Point Gallery and, this year, a nominated recipient of the Henry Moore Foundation Artists Award. Her work is held in private and public collections, including the Government Art Collection and Beecroft Art Gallery, for which she became the first female Black British artist to be acquired into the gallery’s permanent collection. In 2022, she was named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Essex.

Harold Offeh

Harold Offeh is an artist working in a range of media including performance, video, photography, learning and social arts practice. Offeh is interested in the space created by the inhabiting or embodying of histories. He employs humour as a means to confront the viewer with historical narratives and contemporary culture. He has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including Tate Britain and Tate Modern, South London Gallery, Turf Projects, London, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, Wysing Art Centre, Studio Museum Harlem, New York, MAC VAL, France, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Denmark and Art Tower Mito

Louisa Buck

Louisa Buck is a writer and broadcaster on contemporary art. She is a Contributing Editor and London Contemporary Art Correspondent for The Art Newspaper and a regular reviewer and commentator on BBC radio and TV.  

Her articles have appeared in publications ranging from the Guardian and Vogue to Frieze and Artforum.

She is the author of a number of catalogue essays for institutions including Tate, Whitechapel Gallery, ICA London, MCA Australia and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Louisa was a judge for the 2005 Turner Prize and is a founding member of The Gallery Climate Coalition.